--- title: "Nicholas Garaufis | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/nicholas-garaufis" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-10-08" --- # Nicholas Garaufis U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York · Judge ## Profile - Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York - State: New York - Role: Judge - Service status: senior - Last verified: 2026-07-25 ## Summary Official judge-specific and circuitwide procedural guidance has been located for this profile. ## Biography ### Professional career - Judge, District Court, E.D. New York, 2000-2014 - Chief legal counsel, Office of the President, Borough of Queens, NY, 1986-1995 - Assistant attorney general, State of New York, 1975-1978 - Began his legal career in 1974 as an associate at Chadbourne & Parke - He later held the role of an Assistant Attorney General in the Litigation Bureau of the New York State Attorney General’s office under Louis J. Lefkowitz and practiced law privately in Queens County, New York - His decisions are recognized for their principled and careful approach, emphasizing equal justice under the law ### Education - Columbia Law School in, where he co-founded and held the role of the founding managing editor of the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law — J.D. (1974) - Garaufis graduated from Columbia College in with a — B.A. (1969) - Columbia University ### Additional information - He assumed senior status on October 1, 2014 United States Courts - received his commission on May 25, 2000, officially entering service on August 28, 2000. - Nominated to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York by President Bill Clinton on February 28, 2000, upon the recommendation of Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. - Chief counsel, Federal Aviation Administration, 1995-2000 - Private practice, 1978-1986 - Private practice, 1973-1975 - Date of birth: 1948-01-01 - Garaufis also served for over five years as Chief Counsel of the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington, D.C. - overseeing a staff of 200 attorneys, and spent nine years as counsel to Queens Borough President Claire Shulman - Judge Garaufis has presided over a wide range of high-profile cases, including matters involving international terrorism, racial discrimination, organized crime, money laundering, sex trafficking, and homicide. - Before entering law, Garaufis taught in New York City public schools. - Birth place: Paterson, NJ ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### trial exhibits Scope: judge specific Judge Garaufis requires trial exhibits to be pre-marked and exchanged at least ten days before trial, with tabbed exhibit binders supplied to the Court no later than the first day of trial. Evidence excerpt: All exhibits to be used at trial shall be pre-marked and exchanged with the other parties at least 10 days before trial. No later than the first day of trial all parties are to provide the court with tabbed binders containing copies of all exhibits. [Individual Rules of Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis](https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/rules/NGG-MLR.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### civil remote testimony Scope: courtwide In federal district-court civil proceedings, testimony is ordinarily taken in open court; remote contemporaneous testimony requires good cause in compelling circumstances and appropriate safeguards. Evidence excerpt: For good cause in compelling circumstances and with appropriate safeguards, the court may permit testimony in open court by contemporaneous transmission from a different location. [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### criminal recording and broadcasting Scope: courtwide Federal district courts may not permit courtroom photography or broadcasting during criminal judicial proceedings unless a statute or another federal rule provides an exception. Evidence excerpt: Except as otherwise provided by a statute or these rules, the court must not permit the taking of photographs in the courtroom during judicial proceedings or the broadcasting of judicial proceedings from the courtroom. [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391146) - [Official roster](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391146) - [Federal Judicial Center biography](https://www.fjc.gov/node/1391146) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1145/nicholas-garaufis/) - [Individual Rules of Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis](https://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/pub/rules/NGG-MLR.pdf) - [Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 43(a), Testimony in Open Court](https://www.uscourts.gov/forms-rules/current-rules-practice-procedure/federal-rules-civil-procedure) - [Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 53, Courtroom Photographing and Broadcasting Prohibited](https://www.uscourts.gov/court-records/access-court-proceedings/remote-public-access-proceedings/history-cameras-broadcasting-and-remote-public-access-courts) - [CourtListener judicial biographical directory](https://www.courtlistener.com/person/1145/nicholas-garaufis/) - [Wikidata: Nicholas Garaufis](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7025430) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/nicholas-garaufis", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/nicholas-garaufis", "name": "Nicholas Garaufis | KnowJudges", "description": "Nicholas Garaufis, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. 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Civil and criminal sections have distinct scope and district-specific exceptions. Not Bankruptcy Court rules. [Official source](https://www.nysd.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/local_rules/2026-01-02%20-%20EDNY%20and%20SDNY%20Joint%20Local%20Rules%20As%20Amended.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-651872d6e45e0d82319ecccc) — Civil actions in United States District Courts; Rule 81 exceptions apply. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-civil-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27. - [Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, December 1, 2025](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-8721a344fececced2257fe1d) — Criminal proceedings in United States District Courts; this conservative mapping does not distribute appellate-specific provisions to appellate judges. Section-specific exceptions, waivers, later amendments and case orders remain applicable. This is a source excerpt, not an exhaustive statement of the rule. [Official source](https://www.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/document/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure.pdf). Collected 2026-10-27.